There was no clock, but judging by his internal clock, it must have taken a full day.

Among them were secret supreme techniques from various sects.

Thanks to this, he learned everything from the Wudang Sect martial arts he already knew well to those of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.

After reading everything, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a walking encyclopedia of supreme techniques.

‘However, these being high-level supreme techniques, they’re extremely difficult to understand.’

Even knowing a lot, the world of martial arts is vast, and merely memorizing a few lines isn’t enough.

Especially these level of supreme techniques were similar to viewing the Taiji Wisdom Sword.

‘Back then too, my eyes read the text, but I couldn’t understand the content. In the end, such martial arts must be comprehended through countless sword encounters and insights.’

Is this as far as he can get without effort?

No, it wouldn’t be accurate to say “without effort” since he had to risk his life to get here.

He wondered if there was a safer and easier way to get things without effort, but this seemed to be an unavoidable principle of the world.

‘If I continue to devote myself to martial arts and research with Master, something plausible might emerge.’

After thinking that far, his body suddenly swayed.

‘I’m hungry.’

He had put some Imperial fasting pills in his sleeve just in case, but he’d already eaten them all and his stomach had been empty for a long time.

‘Let’s rest first.’

He lay down on the soft, long chair placed in the center.

There was a symbol representing the emperor, but Jin Cheonhee deliberately averted his gaze.

After resting for a while on that soft surface, his energy started to return.

‘I smell water, is there something to drink?’

Looking around, he saw a spring.

‘I’m thirsty, but can I drink this?’

He had brought a martial world-style Life Straw, but the guards at the Imperial Palace entrance had confiscated all his belongings.

They said they’d keep them safe until he returned to the palace, so there was nothing he could do.

Jin Cheonhee slowly focused his internal energy on the water and tilted his head.

“Why am I getting a spiritual medicine reaction from the spring?”

He was just trying to determine if it was drinkable, but spiritual medicine?

Ah, this is irresistible.

Swallowing one mouthful, a refreshing energy flowed down his throat.

“It’s not the legendary Azure Stone Milk, but at least a semi-spiritual medicine to low-grade… If beginners just drank this and practiced energy circulation, their internal energy would accumulate?”

‘…These imperial bastards, secretly keeping all the good stuff!’

A spring where semi-spiritual grade water gushes forth.

The modern person feels the urge to grab a bamboo spear.

‘No, this alone is an incredible treasure?’

With this spring, one could raise a sect and even dominate the martial world for generations.

“Ugh, I need to drink more.”

At this point, Jin Cheonhee, having lived for three cycles of sixty years, won’t see any effect from drinking this.

Still, it’s free and a treasure, so he’ll drink a bit more.

After quenching his thirst, he sprawled out. Knowing the importance of rest, Jin Cheonhee was relaxing like this.

Now is the time for rest.

Because the brain needs to rest.

While spacing out like this, Jin Cheonhee suddenly felt something strange.

‘What’s so strange?’

He looked around. After staring for a while, he finally realized.

‘Ah, the objects were displayed in the shape of the Eight Trigrams.’

But not just any Eight Trigrams, they were reversed.

‘Why are these backward?’

After staring for a long time with this strange thought, he eventually scratched his head vigorously.

“Right. Since a hidden archive appeared within a hidden archive, it wouldn’t be strange if there’s something else hidden here.”

Jin Cheonhee thought briefly and moved a jar.

Then he began to move other objects according to the Eight Trigrams.

Though they were all extraordinary treasures, he focused only on moving them.

After all the objects were arranged in their proper positions…

Finally, he properly placed and inserted the embedded sword.

Click–

‘As expected, something else is hidden this time too.’

The person who designed this place must have been someone deeply mistrustful of humans, or someone who enjoyed playing with people.

‘Hmm… like the Zhuge clan ancestors.’

From what he vaguely heard from his master, it seems that having served as strategists for the martial world for so long, they developed many occupational diseases.

Rrrrrrrumble!

This time, not only did the mechanism formation activate, but the entire surrounding energy began to fluctuate.

‘What… is happening?’

A formation? Or…

For unknown reasons, as a formidable energy that made his heart tremble moved, the center of the floor split open, revealing another staircase.

‘Whew. Is this the last one?’

Having come this far, it’s meaningless to deliberate whether to enter or not.

Jin Cheonhee adjusted his clothes and slowly descended the stairs.

The further he went down, the more the formidable energy began to press on his entire body.

When he came to his senses, fog was thick around him.

Like the floor above(?), there were night-luminous pearls on the ceiling so it wasn’t dark, but the fog blocking visibility made it just as difficult.

‘Is it a formation? But different from before.’

Even using his energy sense, it was impossible to see the surroundings.

Looking back, the entrance and stairs he had come through had disappeared.

‘Until now… no matter how difficult, they were designed to be solvable, but this is somehow different from the previous ones.’

Is he going to die?

Surely not in a place like this?

A chill ran up his spine.

At that moment, a voice echoed.

-Let those without qualification be destroyed.

Kruggg-

The entire fog began to fluctuate.

It wasn’t a formation, but rather felt like being inside a beast’s stomach.

Since he had never seen this type of formation despite using all his knowledge, fear pressed down on his solar plexus even more.

“Keck…!”

Tremendous pressure began to pour into his body.

It was different from poison.

Pure Qi!

Human intellect couldn’t fathom why such a thing was operating and why it was here.

Just as he was about to suffocate.

Suddenly, light began to emanate from his heart.

Wooong-

‘What is this? Why is my body resonating?’

With this much pressure, his blood vessels should burst and he should die.

Yet for some reason, Jin Cheonhee’s body was maintaining life regardless of this pressure.

-You who have qualification. Proceed.

The pressure vanishes.

“…”

As the fog parted, a path appeared.

Jin Cheonhee looked down at his body.

A faint light rose over the back of his hand, then disappeared like embers.

‘What exactly is this body?’

One with qualification.

He couldn’t understand what that meant.

Only the identity of this body became more suspicious.

‘The way back is blocked.’

Then there’s only forward.

How much further did he walk along the path?

A massive lake came into view.

It was an underground cave lake, with light seeping through mysteriously from an opening in the center of the ceiling.

‘Is this an underground lake? To think such a place exists beneath the Imperial Palace…’

First, he needed to find a way back. Could he climb up through that hole?

The problem would be how to explain to the Emperor, but he needed to survive first.

Thinking this, as he approached the lake, something huge slid by with a slick sound.

Grrrr-

He had heard this sound before.

It was the sound he heard when he defeated the Black Shell Centipede, a giant spirit creature.

The breath of a beast.

And that of a massive beast.

‘Not having a sword is a problem.’

Judging by the sound, it would be a spirit creature incomparable to the Black Shell Centipede.

Surely it’s not “the last test is to win in battle”?

Such martial arts novel developments do exist.

But even then, they gave the protagonist a sword for the test.

At that moment, with a splashing sound, something massive emerged, parting the water.

“…A dragon?”

The head of a dragon so massive it couldn’t be taken in at a glance appeared.

Golden scales, symbolizing the imperial family, revealed themselves.

‘Crazy, was the imperial family’s symbol being a golden dragon because there’s actually a golden dragon living under the Imperial Palace?!’

Even now, the inspector’s token modestly encircled his wrist.

While wearing this, he never imagined there was really a golden dragon in the underground.

‘Yeo Ha-ryoon fighting serpent demons did appear in the novel!’

Befitting a long martial arts novel, he later fights immortals and serpent demons and causes a commotion, but dragon slaying never appeared.

Especially not a dragon with an entirely bling-bling golden body!

-How strange. There’s an imperial family member who has reached this place despite the time not being ripe.

It’s a voice he’s heard before.

The voice that asked Jin Cheonhee about his qualifications at the last absolute formation.

“Actually, I’m not a member of the imperial family… uh… I’m someone permitted to use the Imperial Archive. Who… are you?”

At those words, the golden dragon snorted.

-Descendant of Fu Xi, do you ask who I am before you? Surely, you haven’t forgotten about me?

‘No, I said I’m not from the imperial family.’

Nevertheless, there is something to infer from the dragon’s words.

“Are you perhaps the Condor Dragon from the founding myth?”

Condor Dragon (鷹龍).

The condor ‘ying’ (鷹) and the dragon ‘long’ (龍).

Usually, dragons as divine beasts fly through the air without wings, but there’s a legend that this Condor Dragon advanced to a higher existence than dragons and gained wings.

The Condor Dragon is known to have shared the will of the ancient gods.

Dragon of dragons. Also called the Divine Dragon.

‘However, it never appeared in the Supreme Heavenly Demon, not even once.’

He couldn’t have imagined that such a world-building secret was hidden beneath the Imperial Palace.

-That is so. I am the Condor Dragon. The Dragon Emperor who lent strength to establish the world in the past.

But why is such a personage in this underground lake of the Imperial Palace?

“…”

Saying that would probably lead to instant death.

This is already a being transcending human intellect.

It’s not something that can be defeated.

Splash-

Despite the massive body moving, the water surface didn’t ripple much.

The dragon’s mirror-like cornea seemed to penetrate one’s inner being.

-But… you are most peculiar. A body that should already be dead moves alive. That soul has no visible fate. Hmm… rather, it scatters the heavenly energy. Huhu… Is that why you’ve arrived here despite the time not being ripe?

Heavenly energy[1].

A term he hears enough to be sick of it.

“What does it mean that the time hasn’t come?”

Splash-

The Condor Dragon swished its tail slightly and spoke.

-…It seems you’ve come here without knowing anything. Then I have no obligation to teach you the truth here. Humans don’t even live a hundred years anyway. Whatever I teach, what could you judge with that small head of yours?

To those words, Jin Cheonhee answered calmly without showing any sign of anger.

“You… don’t seem to like me much, or rather, humans.”

-Huhuhu. I have resided here for thousands of years already. Though it’s not a long time, I reside here because of a promise with Fu Xi. This is a troublesome matter. Do not disturb my sleep.

Going back to sleep?

The Condor Dragon continued.

-You do what you know. I will fulfill my duty.

Saying this, it was about to descend beneath the water surface again.